Visitor Record (Status Extension)

A visitor record is a document that extends your stay inside Canada. A visitor visa (TRV) is a travel document that lets you come to Canada in the first place.

A visitor record does not permit re-entry. If you leave Canada after receiving one, you will need a valid TRV or eTA to return, depending on your nationality. It is the right application when you are already here and want more time, not when you are planning travel.

Apply before your current authorized stay expires, and ideally about 30 days ahead so there is room to respond if something is missing.

The timing matters more than most people realize. Applying before expiry gives you maintained status, which lets you legally remain in Canada as a visitor until IRCC decides. Applying after expiry means you are out of status and must pursue restoration instead, on a much tighter 90-day clock and with no guarantee.

Maintained status (formerly called implied status) lets you stay in Canada under the conditions of your existing status while a timely extension application is pending.

The key limit is that it carries the conditions of the status you already held. A visitor keeps visitor conditions and still cannot work or study. It also generally does not survive leaving Canada. If you travel while an extension is pending, you may not be able to resume it on return.

No. A visitor record extends visitor status; it does not authorize work or study.

A separate work or study permit is required, with the narrow exception of short courses that are exempt from the study permit requirement. Working without authorization is treated seriously and can affect status and future applications well beyond the immediate problem.

There is no fixed list. Common accepted reasons include extended time with family, ongoing medical treatment or recovery, waiting on a decision in another application, and travel disruption.

What matters is that the request is specific, temporary and supported. An officer is assessing whether the extended stay is genuine and whether you will leave at the end of it, so evidence of funds for the longer stay and of what happens afterwards carries more weight than the stated reason alone.

If you applied before expiry and are refused, maintained status ends and you are expected to leave Canada.

Depending on the timing, restoration may be available within 90 days of losing status, but it is discretionary. This is why applying early matters: a refusal with weeks left on your original status leaves options that a refusal after expiry does not.